11 Tips from Chefs for Cooking Perfect Eggs

Eggs are readily available, relatively cheap, and full of healthy protein and amino acids. Although it may seem easy and straightforward to cook eggs, trying out a few techniques from these chefs will turn your scrambled, hard-boiled, or fried eggs from just fine to flawless. Here are 11 tips from chefs for cooking perfect eggs.

1. CHECK THE CARTON’S JULIAN DATE.

No matter what type of egg dish you cook, fresh eggs taste better and are easier to work with than older ones. J. Kenji López-Alt, the Managing Culinary Director of Serious Eats, suggests checking the Julian date—the three digit number that appears on every carton of eggs packed in the U.S. Numbers range from 001 for January 1 to 365 for December 31, so you want to buy a carton with a number that’s as close to the current day as possible.

2. CRACK YOUR EGGS INTO A SEPARATE BOWL.

When you crack eggs directly into the pan, you risk getting shell fragments in your eggs. But two more reasons to always crack eggs into a ramekin or cup first, according to Alton Brown, are so your eggs cook evenly, and so that you can more precisely control exactly where in the pan you want your eggs to land.

3. ALTERNATE THE PAN BETWEEN HEAT AND NO HEAT.

Gordon Ramsay recommends cooking scrambled eggs on medium-low heat and moving the pan back and forth between the stove and off the stove. Alternating the eggs between heat and no heat, which Ramsay does three or four times during the course of cooking, makes for scrambled eggs that are creamy and rich.

4. SCRAMBLE THEM IN BUTTER FOR A LIGHT, AIRY TEXTURE.

According to Chef Evan Hanczor, scrambling eggs in butter instead of oil will make your eggs more light, fluffy, and tender. Because the heat releases moisture in the butter as steam, the steam increases the airiness of the eggs.

5. HEAT YOUR METAL SPATULA IN THE OIL.

If you’re using a metal spatula to flip your fried eggs, heat olive oil in the pan and then, before you add any eggs, heat your spatula in the oil. This tip, from Spanish-American chef José Andrés, ensures that your egg won’t stick to the spatula, potentially breaking the yolk and messing up your fried eggs.

6. DON’T STOP STIRRING.

When Bobby Flay makes scrambled eggs, he doesn’t take a moment to rest. Similar to risotto, scrambled eggs should be stirred continuously, as soon as the eggs go into the pan. Doing so will help to break down the egg curds, giving your eggs a softer and creamier consistency. Just don’t stir so vigorously that the eggs begin to foam.

7. HEAT YOUR SERVING PLATE WHILE YOU COOK.

Although you might overlook the serving plate as a trifling detail, Brown argues that even the plate you serve your eggs on is important. Because a cold plate will lower the temperature of your eggs too fast, he recommends heating the serving plate in hot water (or in an oven on low heat) while you cook. Doing so ensures that your eggs stay hot while you eat them.

8. BOIL FOR 10 SECONDS BEFORE POACHING.

Poached eggs are notoriously difficult to pull off, but Julia Child has a tip to make you a master of poached eggs. After you boil water, poke a small hole in the egg with a pin to release air inside the egg. Then drop the egg in the hot water for 10 seconds, which will greatly help it keep its shape and deter cloudy strands of egg white from forming when you poach it.

9. USE WATER BATHS TO QUICKLY COOL SOFT BOILED EGGS.

To make soft-boiled eggs, Wayt Gibbs, the editor of Modernist Cuisine, suggests using a bowl of ice water and a water bath. After boiling your eggs for 3 minutes and 30 seconds, put the eggs into ice water so they quickly cool down. Then, put the eggs in a water bath for 35 minutes at 147 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature might seem extremely precise, but the yolks will come out perfectly gooey.

10. PUT THE PROPER AMOUNT OF DAIRY IN YOUR FRITTATA.

According to Dawn Perry, the digital food editor for Bon Appétit, full-fat dairy greatly improves the taste and texture of frittatas. But proportions matter: For every six eggs that go into the frittata, you should use a half-cup of dairy, whether it’s milk, yogurt, or crème fraîche.

11. SLIGHTLY UNDERCOOK YOUR EGGS.

Because eggs continue to cook a bit after they’re no longer on the stove, Jamie Oliver suggests that you turn off the stove (or move the pan away from the burner) just before your scrambled eggs look fully finished. By the time you sit down to eat, your eggs will be perfectly cooked.

10 Surprising Uses for Leftover Bananas

Bananas are practically the perfect fruit. They’re high in potassium and vitamins. They don’t need to be washed or sliced. They make a great healthy snack, but you can also put them in bread, ice cream, pie, and pancakes. What’s not to love?

Well, there’s one tiny problem—they go bad quickly. Bananas produce a large amount of a gas called ethylene, which causes fruit to ripen faster, meaning that there's a small window to enjoy them. Just because a bunch of bananas is past its prime doesn’t mean they can’t be used, though. Here are a few of the things you can do with ripe bananas.

1. TREAT BUG BITES.

Pressing the inside of a banana peel onto a bite from a mosquito or other insect for a few minutes is a surprisingly simple way to quell itching. In fact, some studies have shown that banana peels can help reduce irritation and inflammation [PDF, PDF]. The use of banana peels to treat inflammation is said to be an ancient Chinese remedy, but people around the world swear (with varying degrees of evidence) by the fruit’s ability to soothe poison ivy rashes, psoriasis, sunburn, and other skin maladies.

2. REMOVE A SPLINTER.

If tweezers aren’t getting that pesky splinter out, try a banana peel instead. Tape a piece of the peel onto the affected area (with the soft, inner side of the peel facing down) and leave it in place for about 10 minutes. The enzymes in the fruit should help to force the splinter out.

3. ATTRACT BUTTERFLIES AND HUMMINGBIRDS.

Once a common sight in the U.S., monarch butterflies are now difficult to spot. Their population has dwindled due to loss of habitat, but you can improve your chances of seeing them by placing an overripe banana out in your garden. They’re just soft and sweet enough for butterflies to enjoy (make sure to remove the bananas before you go to bed, though, or else you'll have animals like raccoons in your garden). You can also place bananas near a hummingbird feeder to attract fruit flies, which the birds feast on.

4. FERTILIZE PLANTS.

While you’re out in the garden feeding the birds and butterflies, give your plants some love, too. When cut-up banana peels are buried, they enrich the soil with nutrients and help nourish plants. You can also wrap a banana peel around a tomato plant to create a natural fertilizer.

5. POLISH LEATHER AND SILVER.

If you’re in need of a quick shoe shine, reach for the fruit bowl. The potassium in bananas make them a great, quick tool for polishing your leather. Simply buff the leather with the inside of a banana peel, and use a cloth to wipe it clean. The same technique can also be used to polish silver (though some recommend blending the banana peels into a paste and putting that on a cloth for polishing).

6. MAKE SMOOTHIES, SANS ICE.

Bananas have long been a staple in smoothies, but what if you have a whole bunch that’s about to go bad? Instead of throwing them out, stick them in the freezer. You can pull one out any time you get a smoothie craving, and since it’s frozen, you won’t even need to add ice.

7. MAKE NATURAL BEAUTY PRODUCTS.

Beauty products don’t have to be expensive. Bananas are a great ingredient in DIY hair treatments and skin exfoliants. The amino and citric acids help protect hair from damage and keep it shiny. There are a few different recipes you can try, some of which combine banana with avocado, yogurt, egg, and other ingredients. Rubbing the inside of a banana peel onto your face (seriously, try it) is also said to brighten your skin, fight acne, and reduce puffiness around your eyes.

8. PREVENT INFLAMED MUSCLES.

A recent study published in the journal PLOS One found that competitive cyclists who had consumed a banana instead of a sugary drink or water had less inflammation following their workout. Although other physicians cite the benefits of consuming bananas post-workout, the sample for this particular study was small—only 20 cyclists—and was funded by Dole Foods (although they had no role in any part of the study), so you might not want to swap out ibuprofen for bananas just yet—especially since the lead author toldThe New York Times that the banana led to “quite a bit of bloating,” so maybe best to not experiment on race day.

9. REPAIR A SCRATCHED DVD.

CDs and DVDs may be a dying technology, but many people still have a few lying around at home. If you have any discs that are scratched, you can try using toothpaste and banana to salvage them. First, rub toothpaste into the scratches with a cloth. Wipe it off, then rub a piece of banana onto the disc in a circular motion. Do the same thing with the banana peel and clean the disc with window cleaner. Whether or not this trick works will depend on how badly the disc is scratched, but it’s worth a shot!

10. TRY OUT SOME NEW RECIPES.

If a bunch of bananas is too ripe for your liking, try repurposing the fruit. There are hundreds of recipes that call for overripe bananas. The Food Network's Canadian site lists 83 recipes on its website, including chocolate chip banana pancakes, a peanut butter and banana oatmeal smoothie, and slow cooker banana upside down cake.

Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone Uses a $5 Tool to Clean His Grill

Every grill master knows that cleaning the grates of a barbecue is an essential step in the cooking process. If you forget to scrub off that caked-on char from your last cookout, any food you slap onto the grill will stick and fall apart when you try to flip it. Plus, all that dirt and grime will be an unwelcome addition to your meal. An easy way to avoid this is to give your grill a proper cleaning before you fire it up. And if you don't have a grill brush in your arsenal, a $5 tool you may already have at home will do just fine.

According to Eater, a regular paint scraper is the preferred grill-cleaning gadget of Curtis Stone. The Australian chef and TV personality is the owner of the restaurant Gwen in Los Angeles, which specializes in prime cuts of meat cooked over an open flame. He could use a professional grill brush if he ever chose to, but he tells Eater that a paint scraper is what he wields at home and in his restaurant.

Most commercial grill brushes come with wire bristles, but according to Stone, the scraping part attached to the top is the only feature that's useful. Not only is a paint scraper simpler, it's also compact enough to fit in a back pocket—a major plus for grillers who are prone to misplacing their cooking implements.

A basic grill brush can cost between $10 and $20, with the fancier versions selling for over $100. A metal paint scraper can be purchased from Amazon for $5.